Gary Neville slams 'disrespectful' Arsenal player after spotting what he did vs Man City

Arsenal defender Gabriel has been branded "disrespectful" by Gary Neville, who says he felt "uneasy" after what he did during Sunday's clash against Manchester City.

It was another feisty game between the two Premier League heavyweights but this time, Arsenal came out on top as they smashed five goals past the reigning league champions in an emphatic 5-1 victory.

One of the major talking points in North London involved Gabriel, who reignited his rivalry with Erling Haaland by celebrating in his face – just moments after Martin Odegaard opened the scoring.

The latest incident comes after Haaland threw a ball at Gabriel's head during their 2-2 draw in September, which prompted the Brazilian to say that his Arsenal teammates will be "waiting" for their rematch in February.

Gabriel's decision to scream in Haaland's face brought plenty of reaction from fans and pundits.

Speaking on his Sky Sports podcast, former Manchester United defender Gary Neville – who was on commentary for Sunday's game – described the incident as "disrespectful".

"I want to mention Gabriel and what he did to Haaland," Neville said. "It happened to me actually at Highbury many, many years ago and we actually won 4-2 that day. A player screamed in my face.

"I actually don’t like it, I think it’s a bit disrespectful. I get that Haaland was the pantomime villain here today but there was something about it that I didn’t like."

Neville added: "I was many things on a football pitch to be fair and ‘s*********y’ was my game full stop. But I never did that. I never went and screamed in a players face. I just didn’t like that, it made me feel a little bit uneasy, it was a little bit disrespectful."

Image credit: Getty

After the Gabriel incident, teammate Myles Lewis-Skelly scored his first goal for Arsenal, just four months after being mocked by Erling Haaland on his Premier League debut.

As a result, he became the youngest player to score in the Premier League against the reigning champions since Wayne Rooney for Everton against Arsenal in March 2003.

Moments after finding the net, Lewis-Skelly performed Haaland's iconic meditation celebration, which also brought plenty of reaction online.